Bronze Age statue caught by unsuspecting fisherman

When a Russian fisherman set his net in a riverbed, he expected to catch carp, but what he got instead was an ancient golden statue. Nikolay Tarasov, 43, was fishing in southern Russia when he felt his net get caught on a rock. When he pulled up his net, he saw the rock had a face.

Photos courtesy The Siberian Times

Tarasov brought the 12-inch golden figurine to a local museum where he was told it was more than 4,000 years old and likely a statue of a pagan god. Despite being told that it was worth its weight in gold, the humble fisherman gave the Bronze Age relic to the museum at no charge.

"To sell it and make profit? What are you talking about?," he asked The Siberian Times. "People should see it, and learn the history of their region. It was quite clearly precious for the museums of any country."

An act of a man who understands the value of a piece of history. A man who realises that something like this isn't alway about money. While I agree he should be compensated, maybe a new net, or a notation on the piece explaining who donated it and the circumstances of the find.In our own greed driven society people immediately start wondering "what's in it for me". Not everyone is like that, and I thank them everyday.

No one needs to identify their political affiliation in these comments.Conservatives are baffled and disrespectful of this honorable man, who thought of other people before himself, and did not strive to make a profit from his find.Liberals applaud the selflessness of this fisherman, and his disregard of the "me first" philosophy of the right.A sad commentary on a bit less than half of our population.

We used to catch them for fun and release. They tasted like mud. And then I met the old Japanese-American who had the cabin down the way from ours. He knew how to prepare and cook them. They tasted like fresh water steak.